Busted Canyon
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [AT] Ash is stuck underground without Pikachu or his friends and with the worst group imaginable: Jessie, James, Meowth...and Gary.


**Busted Canyon**

**Chapter 1**

Pikachu sounded as though he had swallowed an apple whole again, and perhaps he had: a metaphorical one…if a metaphorical apple could be likened to the reaction one had when they realise they've cut loose a string that kept their feet planted firmly on the ground. The damage had already been done however; the dynamite exploded with the force of a thousand volts, blotting the world out in white while the electric mouse could only utter a faint sound and realise that electricity and dynamite were a bad combination –

And then he was flying in the air, static discharging without thought from his small body as the air tried to sew itself together after being ripped apart. Winds that arose from no visible source picked him up and carried him heads over heels to new land, and in the tumbling his tail stretched out like a compass, pointing straight down.

Fighting the turbulence, he looked down, but there was no sign of his human's red and white hat, or the jet black hair underneath. Instead, it was a sea of rocky brown and grey and white. Ash was lost, and any cry that left Pikachu's lips were swallowed by the starving air and the swirling screams of scattered humans and Pokemon upon the canyon's roof.

If he had swallowed an apple it would have long since escaped his stomach, but he hadn't and it was only his yellow fur, black nose and the wind in his company as he was, in a seemingly endless journey, blown out of the world.

* * *

Ash registered Pikachu's small squeak minutes after it came, but it had always been too late. A split second of silence pre-empted a bang that blasted his eardrums and warped his sense of perception, so he couldn't tell if he had suddenly been teleported into an ocean and was swimming for his life, or if he was falling into some dark abyss and struggling uselessly against the air he cut through. Or maybe he wasn't doing either but had simply been so thoroughly crushed by Team Rocket and their Pokemon that he was starting to hallucinate.

Knowing Team Rocket, they were plotting something even while failing to get off his back. Probably what to do once the dynamite –

He suddenly groaned, the single word solidifying in his mind. Dynamite. The dynamite. That thing they'd been chasing after before he had turned into a human pancake…if he was a human pancake. He was having a hard time placing his body in the abyss to be able to work out where the odds and ends connected to him sat in a spatial arrangement.

He remembered Pikachu's small squeak, and a familiar flash of yellow. Had Pikachu then shocked the dynamite sticks? Possibly. Was that a bad thing? Most definitely, even if his chemistry wasn't entirely up to scratch.

So the dynamite had blown, perhaps with more force than the little flame alone would have triggered. Then, the canyon –

Ash's eyes snapped open, his muscles spasming in pain as the natural instinct attempted to force him to his feet without avail. He still could see nothing, hear nothing except the buzzing in his ears, the aftermath of that deafening explosion that had ripped reality from beneath his feet.

He closed his eyes and lay there, breathing deeply and gritting his teeth. He had to find out where he was…and where everyone else was too. Pikachu and Squirtle, and his other Pokemon, still hopefully in their Poke balls. Misty and Brock, running to find Officer Jenny. The other minors. And yes, even Team Rocket for all the trouble they managed to drag himself and his friends in to. But to do that, he needed to be able to see, to hear, and to move.

* * *

Misty and Brock where in the process of arguing with a sceptical Officer Jenny when the ground shook violently.

'What was that?' Officer Jenny cried, one hand reaching out automatically to steady her hat while the other reached for her Poke balls.

'Shockwave,' Brock cried, finding the source easily in the sky; a cylinder of smoke and ash billowing to the clouds as the ground cracked even further. 'The dynamite must have exploded! It's made the entire canyon unstable!'

Misty clamoured away as a few clumps of earth fell away from her sneakers. 'The entire place could cave in,' she cried, cursing that her Pokemon would be almost completely useless in such a situation.

Officer Jenny quickly brought out her megaphone, carried specifically for emergencies such as this. As she gave the order to evacuate, she gestured to Brock and Misty with her other hand.

Misty opened her mouth, but Brock grabbed her hand. 'It's too dangerous to stay,' he cried, covering his face as splinters of rock rained down on them. 'We have to get out of the canyon.'

'But –' Misty began, before shaking her head and hurrying her step. Brock was obviously right; the ground seemed even more fragile behind their racing feet, and even Jenny's light-footed Growlithe left a centimetre less earth in his wake. Jenny herself was running in another direction, still shouting orders.

But the dust made it slow going, and the ground was cracking away faster than they could navigate safely away.

'We'll never make it!' Misty cried, shielding her eyes.

'We will.' Brock fingered the balls at his fingertips, before selecting the heaviest one. 'Onix, help us out.'

The dual rock/ground Pokemon emerged from the light of its Poke ball and stretching its long rock body along the breaking earth. Brock immediately leapt onto his back, offering an arm to help Misty up as well. 'Go Onix,' the breeder in training shouted and Onix, hearing and sensing that urgency, hurried to obey.

He might have been twice as heavy as the two teens combined, but its ground characteristics gave it an advantage in the arid canyon, despite it falling apart. Even if visibility was hindered, he could sense where the grass – and safety – lay. And he hurried there, leaving a tunnel of earth falling away in his wake.

* * *

'…Pikachu…'

'…looks…battered…pretty bad…'

'…not…Ash…'

Black eyes opened blurrily, before slipping closed again. A sharp exclamation forced him to try again, and with a groaning "Chuu…" Pikachu managed to focus on a pale and orange face. 'Pikapi?'

Misty somehow knew he was asking for ash, and she shook her head, answering verbally while the yellow rodent continued to blink and focus his vision. 'Ash isn't here.'

'Chuu…'

'I'm sure he's fine though.' She straightened…or sat back, as Pikachu realised he was lying on the little mat Brock had made for him, and said mat was on a grassy surface. So they were a little away from the canyon at any case. 'Pikachupi?' he croaked.

'Umm…' A pause. 'What happened?'

Pikachu tried to lift his head up, but couldn't even manage to cement a paw for support. 'Pi-ka,' he replied in the negative, hoping Misty would understand.

It appeared that she did. 'So…hmm, definitely not about Ash…' She mumbled a little more to herself. 'This is easier with charades…'

'Chuu…'

She suddenly snapped her fingers. 'Brock,' she said triumphantly.

Pikachu gave a "Chuu" in affirmation.

'Right.' Misty suddenly stood, so all the yellow Pokemon could see where her legs and sneakers, and then she was squatting back down. 'Brock and his Pokemon are helping clear the canyon,' she explained. At the suddenly twisted face, she hurriedly added: 'Don't worry. Almost all the miners are pitching in to help, and we'll find Ash in no-time.' _And everyone else that's missing too,_ she thought in the aftermath, thinking of the panicked groups that found themselves suddenly short a human or Pokemon.

'Chu-pi?' Pikachu asked, snapping the red-haired trainer back to the present. 'Pika?' It was accompanied by a wince that was gestered at by a weak tail.

'Is anyone hurt?' Misty asked.

'Chuu,' came the agreement.

'Uhh.' She turned around suddenly as a Bellsprout walked past with some towels. 'In general, yeah. Of the ones we know, Horsea found Gary's Nidoking and Wartortle…and there's Jigglypuff too. The rest of us are alright.'

'Chuu. Chu-pika pi.'

Misty thought for a moment, then shook her head. 'I don't know what you said,' she said apologetically, before suddenly standing. 'Oh, I'd better go.'

She petted the ragged fur tenderly. 'Nurse Joy will check up on you again soon,' she said quietly. 'Just relax until then.'

'Pikapi?'

'I'm sure Ash is just fine.'

* * *

Brock coughed as Geodude accidentally showered him with dust upon unearthing another rock.

'Dude,' the Pokemon said in apology. 'Geo Dude.'

'No worries Geodude.' Brock waved a hand, wiping his brow with the other. 'You okay to keep working?'

'Dude,' Geodude agreed, going back to his digging. Brock went back too, carefully moving the smaller rocks to safer ground. It was slow going, especially at the beginning because everyone – the miners that had evacuated the canyon safely plus a few people from the research institute nearby – had been afraid a wrong move would cause further collapse. A few Alakazam and a Hypno belonging to some of the trainers still stood on guard, ready to use their Psychic powers if need be, but when the ground hadn't broken away after the removal of the first few stones, the search for more survivors continued in a frenzy.

Survivors. It was such a cold word. There were missing people, missing Pokemon…but not all the miners had lost someone or something. Some were helping out of the goodness of their hearts. He though, he was looking for Ash. For Ash and the four Pokemon he had had on hand with him. Pikachu they had found early on. He was with Misty now, and safe. But Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Charizard and –

A blue appendage made him double-take, and then he quickly hailed Geodude over when he recognised the small blue arm. 'Squirtle!'

There was a weak "Squirt" of gratitude once Geodude removed the two stones that had locked the water tortoise in its rocky prison. A few more words followed, but Brock could barely hear them, let along make heads or tails of them. Geodude however seemed to understand, because he nodded with a "Dude" and headed off toward the north.

'Hang on Geodude,' Brock called after him.

'Dude,' Geodude called to him urgently. 'Geodude.'

'Squirt,' Squirtle agreed, and so Brock left Squirtle in the hands of another minor and headed off after Geodude.

* * *

A small stone landed somewhere nearby with a soft plop, and Ash strained his ears towards the sound. His ears were still ringing, but not so much so that they drowned all other noises out. Now that he was more aware of his surroundings – at least in an auditory sense as his eyelids still felt as though they had been sealed shut by clay – he was also able to hear the wind whistling from somewhere overhead, and laboured breathing he managed to finally identify as his own.

Slowly, he cracked his eyes open; there was no urgency in his current setting, except that it was rather dry and uncomfortable, and the memory of his last awakening was still fresh in his mind. Or maybe moments before, and he had simply drifted in a state between awareness and unconsciousness. It was possible, even if it wasn't something he often did. Daydreaming was more his forte, but some parts of his body he still couldn't place were aching and that was out of the question.

Something got into his eyes, and he quickly snapped them shut again with a groan. Was he in a sandstorm or something? It reminded him of when he had tried to catch that Pidgey on Route 1 and failed epically. The sand attack from the enraged bird had been no laughing matter, even if it was a non-damaging attack. It had taken an age to rub the tiny granules from his eyes, and of course Pikachu had been of no help at that time.

He tried to open his eyes again. He couldn't hear Pikachu. He couldn't see much either, and he tried to rub them free, not caring that his hands weren't anywhere near his eyes to try. There was another noise though, the sound of plastic and metal dragging against rock, and then a red flash he managed to spot from the corner of his vision.

'Saur?' It was his Bulbasaur. He must have accidentally dislodged the Pokemon…or Bulbasaur had just known he needed help. 'Bulba saur?'

'Hey…Bulbasaur…' Ash managed, a little breathlessly, realising he had enough air to breathe but hardly enough to spare talking. 'Help..?'

'Bulba,' came the response, then the sounds of vines emerging. A few grunts followed, then they had wrapped around his hand, tugging lightly.

Ash struggled up and rubbed his eyes viciously, and the vines fell away.

'Bulba saur? Saur?'

'Just a sec, Bulbasaur.' His eyes still stung a little, and probably would until he found some water to wash them with. 'You okay?'

'Saur,' Bulbasaur said in affirmation.

Ash shook himself, this time seeing the small pieces of rock that fell away, leaving a few stings behind. More stone, big and small and broken, lay scattered about in the hard earth, barely visible in the odd lighting. Bright in some areas, catching glints off unpolished surfaces, and dim in others. As if the sun was pouring through little cracks in the roof.

He looked up, and the grass Pokemon looked up as well. The sight of more rock and earth greeted them, with little beams of light filtered through the tiny cracks. Too high up to climb, even if Bulbasaur's vines could reach to that height. And he doubted Pidgeotto could support his weight for that long. Charizard could, but it was simply too much to hope for that the stubborn lizard would listen to his orders…and even if they did manage to get up there, how would they unblock the hole without bringing the rocks on top of themselves.

'Any ideas Pikachu?' he asked aloud. 'Squirtle? Bulbasaur?'

'Saur,' Bulbasaur said, shaking his head, before adding: 'Bulba saur.'

Ash looked down, then around. 'Pikachu?' He raised his voice a little. 'Squirtle?'

No answer, save Bulbasaur shaking his head.

Ash took a deep breath. 'Pikachu! Squirtle! Answer me.' His voice echoed, but to no avail. 'Pikachu!'

Nothing.

'Bulba saur,' Bulbasaur said, nudging his trainer's leg.

'Yeah.' Ash pulled his cap over his eyes a little. 'We'll go look for them. And then we'll find a way out together.'

'Saur,' Bulbasaur agreed, sniffing a little before sneezing at the dust. 'Saur,' he mumbled, disgruntled, as he shook himself a little.


End file.
